Lifting The Painted Veil

OLIE, my project that was undercover for a whole year finally opened doors to visitors, buyers and well wishers over the last weekend. The place looked like a dream, Raintree was at its most beautiful and friends and family pitched in to make sure everything went perfectly for the two days that we were there. Everyone who walked in loved the display, the stories and the products themselves and I cannot believe how many people will now have a little Olie touch to their home. It suddenly seems like everything is happening incredibly fast, but I am revelling in the love for this brand and simply dizzy with joy !

An illustration come to life, it was wonderful to be able to experience the magic in forms that one could touch and interact with.

moving shadows dance their way across walls and ceilings casting spells 

Love this pretty lady's outfit- the colours work so well for the brand !

cushion covers,table linen and lighting oh joy!

I cannot wait to walk into a home and see a little bit of Olie soul glowing over a table like a piece of art or like one lovely buyer told me, in her bedroom where the shadows each lamp creates would make the whole space incredibly beautiful and romantic.

I've been taking a bit of a break the past few days from all the rush of product and brand building, but the only thing that I did do this week was meet with the charismatic Asha and Sanam of Sunday Soul Sante. Happily, they seem excited to welcome us to their flea market. I always loved the sante, it seems so festive, a real market with music and wine and so much beauty in the stalls - It's going to be a whole new experience to be a part of it not as someone who is walking through enjoying the spirit but as one of the brands within the stall. Im excited. I hope you will be able to make it, it's happening on the 27th of this month !

All this excitement aside, I don't know if I told you - I moved back to Bangalore a month ago ! Back to long walks under beautiful flowering trees,plenty of cappuccino in quaint cafe's, lots of rides on the metro ( which for some reason fills me with joy even though its only about a 6 km stretch ! ) and friends everywhere. sigh, life is getting good again :)

Have a happy weekend! kisses!

Heartlight, My Mind Weeps

My very last post for the year! Were off on holiday (Yay!) tomorrow and back only in the new year!

A few weeks ago, I was feeling rather lost about life and wondering where it would take me next. A friend spoke to me with inspiring words, and I had time to think it over in a long train journey alone. I love feeling inspired, it is such a high and I feel so alive. And this sketch just happened while on the train, a bunch of doodles, and in it I say- Heartlight, my mind weeps for I follow my heart.

For no matter how much reasoning is done, in the end the heart has the final word, and only then do I find peace and happiness in my decision. Had a wonderful year of good decisions and I cross my fingers and hope that the next year only gets better and more exciting :)

This is an amazing time of the year, gifts and smiles and love all around. Big hugs, have a wonderful christmas and a beautiful, happy happy new year!

Turn on your Heartlight

A friend of mine is doing something incredibly exciting. She is taking part in The Mongol Rally. They are going to be driving a car all the way from Italy to Mongolia!! 10,000 miles , mountain ranges, rivers, deserts and proceeds go to charity! They are also going to be putting up a website. And she asked me to create a map for their site that would reflect a feeling of adventure! So I created this map, inspired from the Gond style of painting from Madhya Pradesh, with a rather contemporary twist to it :) The sun, moon, stars, forests, rivers, mountains, whirling dervishes. I wish I was doing something as beautiful as this !

Neil Diamond once said, 
Turn on your heartlight

let it shine wherever you go

let it make a happy glow

for all the world to see.

So thats what we have to do :) Travel the world and spread the joy ! I could do that. Sometimes I think all i want to do is travel, just keep going. that might be the ideal life. Have a good week !

This work by amrita is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License